Boys charged in child rape case appear in court

AMANDA LEE MYERSAssociated Press Writer

Published Thursday, August 06, 2009

PHOENIX -- The two youngest boys charged in the rape last month of an 8-year-old Liberian girl were ordered Wednesday to remain in juvenile detention with restricted visitors, as Liberia's deputy ambassador to the U.S. arrived in town hoping to speak to them.

At separate hearings, judges ordered that no one be allowed to interview the 9-year-old boys without the permission of their lawyers, court-appointed advocates and Child Protective Services.

Both lawyers indicated they would advise the boys not to speak to the deputy ambassador, Edwin Sele, who arrived in Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon for a weeklong fact-finding mission and to help dispel notions that rape is condoned in the West African country.

"I'm sure we can speak to CPS and find ways to do this legally," said Sele, who was asked to visit Phoenix by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Sele said he wants the boys to know being innocent until proven guilty is a hallmark of the U.S. justice system and he also wants to meet with the 8-year-old girl to tell her Liberians extend their love to her.

The rape case drew international attention last month after police reported the alleged victim's parents said they were ashamed of the girl and didn't want her back -- a contention disputed by the family's pastor. The girl remains in custody of Child Protective Services.

During the alleged July 16 attack, police say the 9-year-old boys and two teenagers lured the girl to an empty storage shed with the promise of chewing gum, restrained her and took turns raping her. A 14-year-old has been charged as an adult, and prosecutors are seeking to charge a 13-year-old as an adult, as well.

One of the 9-year-old boys, whose ankles and wrists were shackled during Wednesday's hearing, slouched in his chair and was expressionless until Judge Aimee Anderson spoke directly to him.

"I will tell you I'm very proud of you for being back there and working so hard," she said as she held up a certificate that his juvenile facility had given him for good behavior. "I know it's not easy and pretty hard to make friends in there ... Hang in there, OK?"

As she spoke, tears poured down his face and his sniffles could be heard over a courtroom microphone. Anderson granted prosecutors' request to change two of the boy's charges from sexual assault to sexual conduct. He also is charged with kidnapping.

At a separate hearing, the 9-year-old charged in the case sat quietly and looked around curiously from time to time. Judge Dawn Bergin ordered that his sexual assault charge be changed to sexual conduct, also at prosecutors' request.

The 9-year-old boys' uncle, whom The Associated Press is not identifying because he shares a last name with one of the boys, told the AP outside court that he was skeptical about whether his nephews had committed rape. "It's hard to believe a 9-year-old could commit rape," he said.

He said the boys are cousins, came to the U.S. about six years ago and had been living in Phoenix with their grandmother. He said neither remembers their life in Liberia, speak very limited English and don't understand what's going on in court.

During the hearings, a court-appointed advocate for the boys said the parents of one of them still live in Africa, while the other's mother is dead and his father is in Africa.

Neither have legal guardians, she said, which is why she said she will file dependency petitions on each of their behalf in hopes of getting them out of juvenile detention and placing them with an uncle or in Child Protective Services.